Your mobility choices have an effect

Mobility entails choices – consider more sustainable alternatives when you are on the move. In Espoo, you can opt for public transport, use a bike or walk. In 2015, more people than ever rode bicycles in Espoo.

Travel by foot or bicycle

In Espoo, you can often reach services by foot or bike: the city is structured around five centres, which makes distances short and eliminates the need to run daily errands by car.

Espoo’s Waterfront Walkway provides a challenge for people who enjoy long hikes or bike trips: the route covers over 40 kilometres of terrain in a beautiful waterfront environment, where you can stop for a coffee or a swim if you wish.

Espoo is continuously expanding its cycling routes. The highest quality cycling routes (‘baana routes’) allow you to travel at your own pace apart from other traffic. Olarinbaana and another route on Suomenlahdentie Road have already been completed. Other high-quality cycling routes are underway in new areas:

A route between Vermontie and Tarvaspääntie-Perkkaantie is due to be completed in approximately 2020.

The Niittyreitti route will be completed in stages.

When the city track is completed, it will travel side by side with a cycling route leading west of Leppävaara.

A cycling route will be completed in the western end of Kaitaantie, in the Soukanväylä-Kielotie area, in the next few years.

Espoo also has other types of cycling routes – nearly 30 kilometres if supplementary cycling routes were constructed in 2014–2015. The current routes are also being continuously improved.

The city aims to facilitate bicycling by increasing bicycle parking options: Espoo stations currently hosts racks for over 1,000 bicycles. In the future, for example, parking racks will be implemented for over 4,100 bicycles at the West Metro stations.

Espoo’s action to promote cycling has yielded results: In 2015, more people than ever rode bicycles in Espoo both in the city centre areas and between them.

In the future, the city intends to invest in harmonising the routes as well as signage. In the winter 2015–2016, new winter maintenance methods were tested along the Olarinbaana route. The route was brushed and salted instead of gritting.

The goal is to build approximately 60 kilometres of high-quality cycling routes.

Board the bus, train or metro

Travelling by bus will generate even less emissions in the future: Espoo will have more electric buses in the near future. The first quick-charging electric buses set off from Friisilä to Tapiola at the beginning of 2016. In the future, more electric bus charging stations will be installed near metro stations.

Bus route and West Metro development advance hand in hand: the commissioning of the metro will convert direct bus lines to Helsinki city centre mostly into transit lines to the Matinkylä and Tapiola stations. The metro will connect different parts of Espoo and guarantee quick connections to and from Helsinki: the route will cover 14 kilometres from Ruoholahti in Helsinki to Matinkylä in Espoo and will be complete with eight stations. The individual stations also offer great parking whether you are travelling by bike or car.

The Raide-Jokeri light rail line, intended to operate between Itäkeskus in Helsinki and Keilaniemi in Espoo, will be the first of its kind in the Helsinki region and is estimated to begin operations in 2021. Raide-Jokeri is an easy way to travel from one rail line to another, as it connects the West Metro and the waterfront and ring rail lines.

Did you know?

The battery of an electric bus takes 1.5 to 3 minutes to charge.

The metro will be extended from Matinkylä to Kivenlahti in 2020.

Wise driving options

Sometimes, travelling by car is the best option. However, you might want to consider opting for a hybrid or electric car: more and more electric charging points are being installed, and Espoo already has dozens. You can check the location of the charging points here.

You do not always need to travel by car all the way – you can park near a metro station and continue your journey on rails. Consider car pooling as an option for commuting or dropping children off to their hobbies.

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